Tamara

What does Tamara mean?

Tamara means “date palm,” through its connection with the Hebrew name Tamar. It is the Russian form of Tamar and is also established in many other European languages.

The name became familiar in English partly through Russian performers. Painter Tamara de Lempicka and ballerina Tamara Karsavina give it substantial associations with twentieth-century art and dance.

From Tamar to Tamara

Tamar is a Hebrew word and personal name meaning “date palm.” Its biblical history includes more than one woman called Tamar, while its later use also includes a ruling queen of medieval Georgia.

Tamara developed as the Russian form and became established beyond Russian-speaking communities. The added final vowel gives it three syllables in English, while keeping the recognizable opening of Tamar.

The name appears across languages with different stress patterns. Its international spread therefore produced several familiar spoken forms, rather than one pronunciation used everywhere.

Tamara Karsavina and The Firebird

Tamara Karsavina danced with the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes. She created several important roles, including the title role in The Firebird.

In that ballet, a prince captures the magical bird in a forest. She gives him a golden feather in exchange for her freedom, setting a central part of the story in motion.

Photographs and paintings of Karsavina in the role preserve its striking visual character. After settling in London, she also became an important figure in the development of British ballet, extending her influence beyond her own performances.

Tamara de Lempicka and Art Deco

Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka worked in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s before living in the United States and Mexico. Her portraits and other figurative paintings became closely associated with Art Deco.

Her Self-Portrait, also known as Tamara in the Green Bugatti, dates from 1929. Its presentation of a modern woman at the wheel became one of the recognizable images associated with her career.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds her 1939 painting Woman with Arms Crossed, an oil on canvas. Together with her wider portrait work, it gives Tamara a connection with an artist whose style joined modern life with a polished, carefully constructed figure.

Pronunciation and familiar forms

English pronunciations include tuh-MAR-uh, tuh-MAIR-uh, and TAM-uh-ruh. The first two emphasize the middle syllable, while the third begins with the stress.

Tamera, Tamra, and Tammara are related spellings. Tamar is the older name behind Tamara, preserving the Hebrew form without its added final vowel. Tammy belongs to the familiar English forms used within this name family.

Tamara in the United States

Tamara's largest annual American girls' count was 4,721 in 1970. Its best national rank came in 1974, at No. 64. It ranked No. 1,315 in 2015 and No. 1,816 in 2025. Its strongest American popularity belongs to the later twentieth century.

How popular is Tamara?

In 2025, Tamara ranked #1,816 among girls in the United States, with 111 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1917; its largest annual count was 4,721 in 1970. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.